Adidas have revealed plans to open their first ever automated shoe factory in Germany come 2016.

The advanced plant aims to bring consumers closer to the manufacturer in more affluent regions of the world. It’s no pipe dream either with the German sportswear giant having already signed a contract to receive the necessary technology from a local engineering firm to design and custom manufacture shoe components autonomously.

It’s been known that Adidas has been in talks with the German government, academics and robotics labs to get this ambitious idea off the ground. Their ultimate goal is to create a new movement in the lucrative footwear industry which steps away from manufacturing solely in Asia.

On top of this, the company believes that the new autonomous factory will allow for faster delivery times whilst reducing freight costs. Given that Nike currently holds the crown as the world’s biggest sportswear firm, there’s also an urgent commercial drive to cut out the need for workers to construct shoes by hand.

Part of this manufacturing technology called ‘Speedfactory’ has already been revealed by Adidas in a recent teaser of their first 3D-printed sneaker which can be precisely tailored to a wearer’s foot.

Adidas’ first ‘Speedfactory’ will be opened in the southern German town of Ansbach near its main headquarters in 2016.